Mirror
by towarddaylight
Summary: AU in which Lily and James live, and Harry has a twin. Done before, but I wanted to try. Series of connected oneshots, with a different POV for each.
1. Lily: The Beginning

"Lily, _take the boys and go!_" James yelled through his charmed wristband, "It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off—"

Lily jerked up from where she'd been sitting, watching her sons play a game they'd made up. Her first instinct was to panic, but she ignored it with little difficulty. She snatched her wand from a nearby shelf, and then knelt down to pick up her twin boys. She carried them awkwardly, one on each arm with her wand clenched between her fingers, and prepared to disapparate. However, as she felt an Anti-Disapparation jinx go up, Lily knew she had to find another way to escape.

_Crash!_

The sound of breaking china and rush of spellfire from the room below sent Lily's heart racing and she had to force down the impulse to go in and help James. Her breath slowed as various possible means of escape filtered through her mind.

She could try to break the Anti-Disapparation jinx, but the only way she knew meant the caster – most likely Voldemort – would be able to track her. She couldn't floo – that was in the other room, and with both hands full she'd be virtually defenseless. All the portkeys were with—

A tortured scream split the air and Lily felt her heart stop. The scream cut off into pained moaning before quieting abruptly, and Lily could only stand, petrified, eyes wide as saucers.

She dropped her wand. Scrambling to pick it up with two toddlers in her arms, she didn't notice when Voldemort came in. When she did, she very slowly levitated the boys into their cots, green eyes never leaving red. Her face was pale but determined.

"Leave," she spat. Her voice was cold and hard, despite knowing the man – _monster _– would not comply.

Voldemort smirked. "No," he said almost playfully, as if this were all a game to him.

"_Avada Kedavra_," Lily said flatly, showing him exactly how much of a game it wasn't.

The world flashed green as the death curse sped toward Voldemort, air seeming to bend around it. Half a meter in front of its intended target the stream shattered, and a thick stone shield rippled into view.

Voldemort hadn't twitched.

"Alright…" he said in that same careless tone and Lily noticed he hadn't even drawn his wand. He did so now, rolling the bone-white wood between his fingers. "_Sectumsempra_!" he snapped out faster than Lily could follow. She quickly summoned a chair to take the hit, but a second cleaved through and cut deep into her cheek. She winced from the sudden pain as blood trickled down her chin. Already three more spells sped through the air, slamming into and almost shattering her hastily conjured shield. She returned with several curses, though all were easily blocked.

For every spell Lily cast, she had to block three more. She wasn't an especially good duelist, though she could usually hold her own in a fair fight - but this – this was too much for her.

The duel was over in less than a minute.

Lily lay on the ground, exhausted and dizzy from blood loss. Through a haze of pain she saw Voldemort stride over to the two cots behind her. As he leaned over and raised his wand, Lily found the strength to stand. She rushed to protect her boys, stumbling and almost tipping over one of the cots.

"NO!" she all but screamed. Voldemort glared, and suddenly Lily's headache intensified. Her head pounded and her temples throbbed, but through it all she hovered protectively in front of the ones she _would not_ let die.

The pounding stopped.

"Stand aside," Voldemort demanded, shoving her out of the way. He brought his wand up once again.

Distraught, Lily begged, "No, please no, not Harry—"

Curious, Voldemort shifted his hand to the left.

Eyes wide, Lily started again, "No! Please, not Tom—"

She stopped when Voldemort paused, seeming almost…surprised? – And there was silence for exactly three seconds. Suddenly Voldemort looked angry, and Lily was all the more wary of the deadly vehemence in his voice. "He will die first," he growled, raising his wand for a third time.

Lily became even more desperate and jumped in front of his wand again. "Please no," she cried, "take me, kill me instead—"

"_Stand aside_, you silly girl!" Voldemort barked, fed up with the interruptions. He knocked Lily to the ground, viciously breaking a bone in her leg in the process. She stayed silent despite the almost unbearable pain. "Stand aside now, and one of them—" he glanced at the cots, "—will live."

Lily couldn't bear losing even one of her precious boys and shook her head. She yanked on his robes, hoping to at least make him trip. When he simply ignored it, she continued to plead. "Please, have mercy…"

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

Lily lowered her head, defeated and unable to look. "Have mercy…" she whispered. Tears streamed down her face and dripped onto her skirt.

The dreaded squeal of fright never came.

Lily glanced up and saw the Voldemort had frozen with a shocked expression on his face. She turned her head very slowly, a spark of hope in her eyes.

On his cot, Thomas Dianthus Potter sat legs sprawled out in front of him and arms extended. A tiny green globe hovered inches from his palms. Tom gently brought his hands closer to his face and stared at the lightly pulsing ball. Suddenly he threw it into the air and yelled, "Catch, Harry!" or what sounded like it in baby language.

The ball moved very fast and bounced off Harry's forehead before he could blink. Tom pouted and caught it with cupped hands before tossing it again. This time Harry was ready and snatched it out of the air.

To Lily's bemusement they tossed the small ball back and forth several times before Harry just sat there with it in his hands. He brought it very close to his eye, apparently examining it. Abruptly he whipped his hand back and threw it straight at the only person standing. The green orb seemed to sink into his skin like a rock in water, and for a moment everything was still.

Harry smiled.

Tom giggled.

Voldemort imploded.

Lily blinked and stared at the remains of the most feared Dark Lord with slight shock. She didn't know how long she spent just sitting there, but the next thing she knew someone was calling her name from the door.

Lily turned blankly. "James?" she questioned. A part of her sighed in relief, but mostly she just stared unblinkingly. "I thought…" she trailed off, turning her eyes toward the bloody pile on the floor.

James followed her line of sight. "Yeah…" he said after a pause, and then explained, "I think I passed out for a minute. When I woke up, he," James nodded toward the pile, "was gone. Are you okay?" He sounded concerned. He walked over, casting a few healing spells on the shallow cuts Lily had accumulated.

"I…think so?" She shook her head a bit and came back to herself. "You? I heard you scream…" she said cautiously, splinting her leg and standing up.

James leaned over Harry and Tom's cots to make sure they weren't hurt. "I might have to go to St. Mungos later but I'm good for now," James told her. "Is he really…?" he said glancing at Voldemort's remains.

"Uh huh." Lily nodded uncertainly.

"That's nice," he said after a moment, seeming only slightly less shaken than Lily herself was. "Lily, look at this."

"What?" She stood next to James and looked, fearing the worst.

James saw the look on Lily's face. "It's alright," he assured her, "but look - this." He pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry blinked up at them, still smiling a bit; on his forehead, off center to the left, was a thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt that ran from his hairline to his eyebrow. "And this," James continued, holding Tom's left hand gently in his fingers, palm up. At the base of his thumb was another scar, this one a puckered circle shaped not unlike a bullet wound - or a sun.

Lily bit her lip. "What are they? They don't look like normal scars." She poked one on Harry's forehead. It didn't seem to be hurting him; that was good, at least.

"I don't know," James said, turning toward Lily. "Did you see when they got them?"

Lily shook her head. "I was too distracted, but we can look in a pensieve later. Actually, I'll show you all of it in the pensieve…" She yawned and sat down on the floor.

"Alright," James said, sitting down next to her. "Harry and Tom seem to be doing okay now, and the Order should be here soon. You can sleep," he added, seeing Lily was about to nod off.

Lily nodded drowsily. "G'night James," she mumbled and leaned into his shoulder, instantly asleep.

* * *

AN: This'll be a series of connected oneshots and not one big fic. They probably won't be in linear order either, and I'll be posting them as I write. I have no idea what the next chapter will be, nor when it will be up.


	2. Harry: Scheming

AN: I don't like this one (it's not even finished). I sorta gave up on it when writer's block set in. I owe you another Harry POV.

* * *

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Yes!" Harry cheered quietly as he stepped off the stool and took the sorting hat off his head. He walked over to an empty spot on the Slytherin table amid scattered applause and curious eyes and waited patiently for his twin.

"Potter, Thomas!" McGonagall called.

Ten seconds later the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"; the cheering might have been louder this time, but Harry wasn't paying attention. Instead he watched Tom calmly ignore the whole Gryffindor house as he made his way to where Harry sat at the Slytherin table. There was some confusion from just about everyone else but it was forgotten as the sorting continued. Harry tuned it out as his twin came closer, stopping just in front of him.

Tom grinned. "Wanna trade ties?" he said, pulling at the knot on his.

Harry smirked, already slipping his own out from around his neck. "Sure. Emblems too?" He pointed at the patch on his chest.

Tom nodded and held still as Harry performed a switching spell. "Nice." he said, examining the new patch on his robes with his fingers before looking up. "Switch, or do you want to check things out first?"

"Switch for now, but you'd better tell me the password tomorrow," Harry warned playfully as he raised himself out of his chair.

Tom looked affronted. "Why would I_ ever_—" he cut himself off knowing Harry wouldn't believe him. Then he pouted. "Fine. Now go before people get suspicious," he ordered in mock-seriousness, turning around and taking Harry's seat.

Harry made a show of frowning even though he knew Tom couldn't see him. "They already are," he mumbled as he walked almost unnoticed toward the Gryffindor table.

* * *

Harry sighed in irritation as he _finally_ found the DADA classroom – he'd been searching for an hour, even with help! When he neared the door he pushed it open slightly and stuck his head in. Seeing no one, he called, "Mum?" After a minute of silence he opened the door all the way and just walked in. A moment later he tried again: "Mum, it's Harry."

A second door faded into view and was jolted open before it fully materialized.

"Harry?" a dizzy Lily Potter questioned before wobbling over and leaning on a desk. She took out a potion from the inside of her robes and quickly drank it, steam immediately wafting out of her ears.

Harry recognized the clear orange potion and said somewhat incredulously, "Pepperup? Did you get a _cold_?" _Mum never gets colds…_

Lily shook her head. "Potions accident," she explained without elaborating.

Harry nodded, knowing his mum had some crazy experiments going on that could never be described properly until they were complete.

"So, what are you doing here?" Lily asked. "Class doesn't start for half an hour," she continued seeing Harry's blank look.

Harry blinked and remembered what he came here for. "Uh, yeah. Do you have any extra charmed bracelets lying around?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I have two." Lily reached back into her robe and took out two identical metal bands. Suddenly wary, she started asking questions. "What will you be using them for?"

"Uh, just a prank – to mess with people," Harry told her, hoping she wouldn't ask for details. Even though she'd probably figure it out anyways, he didn't like explaining his and Tom's scemes.

Lily seemed to accept this and handed over the bracelets with just a warning. "Don't lose them, Harry. They take forever to make, _as you should_ _know_." The last words were spoken with a certain emphasis, reminding Harry painfully of the time when he _had_ broken one. He nodded, taking them and slipping both over his left hand.

"Thanks, Mum," he said, walking back to the door. "See you in about twenty minutes."

"Alright," she replied. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye Mum," Harry said as the door clicked shut. Then he walked toward the Gryffindor Tower, intent on finding his twin.

* * *

"_Lockhart's coming._"

Harry whipped his head up and backed up against the wall. "Which direction?" he muttered, scanning the area for threats.

"_Your left_."

Immediately he turned and sprinted in the opposite direction without looking back. He ran all the way to the Slytherin common room, only stopping to snap out the password before darting in. Once inside, he slowed to a walk and made his way to the far left corner where his twin waited. As he came closer he saw the last traces of ink disappear from the parchment in Tom's hands.

Tom stood up. "You got them, yeah?"

"In my pocket. You can look at them later – not here," Harry said glancing around the not quite empty room.

Tom seemed to be expecting this and nodded. "And the rings seem to be working well, I think."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "clear voice, not too loud." _Unlike last time_, he added silently.

"That's good." Tom paused for a moment and looked at his watch. Harry knew the time, roughly – half past ten at least. After about a minute, Tom said, "I'll meet you in the chamber tomorrow at six? Morning, of course."

Harry just nodded, then turned and started toward the boys' dormitories as Tom headed out of the Slytherin common room and toward Gryffindor's. As he walked, Harry thought of the day's events with mild satisfaction.

Yesterday he and Tom had been exploring in the Chamber of Secrets when a voice had spoken up and called out a basilisk. They'd eventually killed it (thank you, Fawkes), then discovered the voice had been a possessed Ginny Weasley carrying a certain diary. They'd destroyed the diary and sent Ginny to Dumbledore, then continued on with what was left of their day.

Today, Harry had been thinking of what to do with the basilisk remains. They were sure to be valuable – basilisks were very rare, after all – and maybe he and Tom could make something out of it or at least sell it. After class they'd gone back to the chamber to get the perishable important stuff, which were the fangs and the eyes.

On the way back they had bumped into Filch, Harry dropping one of the bags in the process. Filch had sensed that it contained some banned item (which was true) and confiscated it. Luckily the bag had a lock, thus making Filch wait to open it. Later Harry had gone to get them back alone while Tom waited in the Slytherin common room with the Marauder's Map. They'd decided to test the homemade communication rings – earrings made from former charmed bracelets – so that Tom could alert Harry when someone was coming.

And it had worked.

Harry grinned to himself as he undressed silently in the dark, then slid under the covers of his bed. He lay awake for a couple minutes before drifting off to sleep with a small smile on his face.


End file.
